Chet Holmgren just asked the NBA world: remember me?
The 2022 No. 2 pick, who missed what would have been his entire rookie season due to a foot injury, has officially arrived after a stunning, game-winning performance against Golden State on Sunday (all-time AEDT).
Holmgren had 36 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and, most importantly, three clutch turnovers to beat the buzzer and force overtime – where his superstar teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander took over (40 points) en route towards a victory on the road 130-123.
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Steph Curry returned from a right knee injury and had 25 points, but couldn’t stop the Warriors from falling to 1-6 at home this season.
This followed the Thunder’s 128-109 victory over the Warriors two days ago.
Meanwhile, even though the New Orleans Pelicans suffered a heartbreaking 121-120 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, young Australian Dyson Daniels continues to shine in a bigger role.
Daniels scored 13 points on 6-of-12 shooting with a triple, five rebounds, six assists and a steal in a season-high 37 minutes as the Pelicans’ starting point guard.
Currently receiving extra minutes due to CJ McCollum’s lung injury, the 20-year-old got even more opportunities thanks to Zion Williamson in Sunday’s game.
This allowed Daniels a few more touches on the offensive end as he again showed improvement on that end of the court with his ball handling and an array of nifty floaters inside the paint.
It also marked five straight double-digit scoring games for Daniels, who averaged 13.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and five assists in those five starts.
A contest that went down to the wire, Daniels was tasked with running Karl Anthony-Towns in the final 10 seconds of the game as the Pelicans led 120-119. The much taller Towns took it inside and scored with five seconds on the clock, and you can see how personal Daniels took it despite playing as good a defense as he could have.
New Orleans had one last chance at the other end of the court to win the game, with Brandon Ingram dribbling inside but missing the mid-range shot as the buzzer sounded.
It ended a two-game losing streak for the Pelicans, who were in their second straight game after beating defending champion Denver on Saturday in New Orleans.
Ingram (30 points) and Jonas Valanciunas (26 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks) led the way for Willie Green’s team, which fell to 6-7 overall.
The much-improved Timberwolves, meanwhile, won their eighth game in their last nine to improve to 9-3 on the season and move into a tie for first place in the Western Conference standings.
Towns was busy with 29 points, six rebounds and nine assists, Rudy Gobert had a double-double (17 points, 11 rebounds) with two blocks and Anthony Edwards added 23 points.
